Socialization of past event talk: Cultural differences in maternal elaborative reminiscing

This study examines mother-child reminiscing conversations with respect to variation in use and function of mothers’ elaborations, the nature of children's memory elaborations, and the connections between the two, in three Western middle-class cultures where autonomy is valued over relatedness. Mothers participated with their 4-year-old children (35 dyads from Berlin, Germany, 42 dyads from Stockholm, Sweden, and 38 from Tallinn, Estonia). Mothers’ open-ended questions predicted children's memory elaborations in Estonian dyads, mothers’ statements and verbal confirmation did so in German dyads, and verbal confirmations did so in Swedish dyads. Number of children's elaborations was similar in all three groups, but Estonian mothers were less elaborative than Swedish and German mothers. These findings contrast with previous research in which number of child elaborations has been linked to number of mother elaborations. The results suggest that different aspects of elaborative style function differently. The differences are discussed in light of culturally rooted meanings and practices of talking.     

The role of traffic law enforcements in the relationship between cultural variables and traffic fatality rates across some countries of the world

The aims of the present study were to investigate whether cultural variables are related to law enforcements as well as traffic fatality rates and to examine the role of law enforcements of five risk factors for road safety (i.e., national speed law, national drink-driving law, national motorcycle helmet law, national seat-belt law, and national child restraint law) in the relationship between cultural variables and traffic fatality rates across countries of the world. The aggregated data of the study included Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Schwartz’s value dimensions, law enforcements of five risk factors for road safety, gross national income per capita, and traffic fatality rates for 97 countries of the world. The results showed that most of the cultural variables were associated with law enforcements of five risk factors for road safety and traffic fatality rates of countries. By bootstrapping, among Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, it was found that the indirect effects of long-term orientation (LTO) on fatality rates (FR) through speed, helmet, and child restraint enforcements were significant, separately. Among Schwartz’s value dimensions, the indirect effects of embeddedness on fatality rates through speed and child restraint enforcements were significant, separately. Intellectual autonomy had also significant indirect effects on fatality rates via speed and child restraint enforcements, separately. Finally, it was found that the indirect effects of affective autonomy on fatality rates through speed and helmet enforcements were significant, separately.     

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Depression–Anxiety–Stress Scales in Depressed and Anxious Patients

The Depression–Anxiety–Stress Scales (DASS; P. F. Lovibond & S. H. Lovibond, 1995) have shown considerable promise in their ability to differentially assess depression and anxiety symptoms. Most of the work to date has relied on normal or predominantly anxious clinical samples. To extend this research to a predominantly depressed sample, a psychiatric sample from a mood disorders program (N = 439) was used to investigate the factor structure of the DASS. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a 3-factor model for the 21-item DASS was supported. A 3-factor model with crossloading items for the 42-item version showed no practical improvement. Further confirmatory analyses evaluated the ability of item subsets from the DASS to represent the constructs specified in the tripartite model (L. A. Clark & D. Watson, 1991). Strong support was obtained for the DASS to represent the construct of anhedonia and physiological hyperarousal, and their relative importance is consistent with predictions of the tripartite model in understanding the relationship between anxiety and depression.     

A Test and Refinement of the Demand–Control–Support Model in the Construction Industry

This study aims at a test and further refinement of the Demand–Control–Support (DCS) model among construction workers (N = 210). On the basis of theory and empirical evidence, we hypothesized that mental or physical job demands, low job control, and lack of social support at work have direct and synergistic effects on burnout. The model was expanded by hypothesizing that burnout mediates the relationships between these potentially demanding working conditions on the one hand, and health complaints on the other. Results of a series of structural equation analyses partly supported these hypotheses. The proposed model fitted adequately to the data, although some variables in the DCS model did not make a unique contribution to explaining variance in burnout and (indirectly) health complaints. Interestingly, lack of social support was the most important determinant of burnout and health complaints among construction workers. In addition, a significant three-way interaction effect partly confirmed the synergism hypothesis: Physical demands were only related to burnout if participants had poor job control and reported high social support. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.     

Mother— and Father—Child Mutuality in Anglo and Indian British Families: A Link with Lower Externalizing Problems

We observed mother- and father-child dyadic mutuality (responsiveness, interaction reciprocity, and cooperation), and its association with child behavior problems, in a socioeconomically and ethnically diverse sample of 125 male (51%) and female 7-to-9-year-old children. Dyadic mutuality and positivity were coded from in-home videotaped structured tasks, and parents completed ratings of child externalizing problems. Mothers showed more mutuality than fathers. The same child showed moderately similar mutuality with both of her or his parents (r = .47). Mutuality was higher among Anglo parents compared to Indian parents, an effect that was due in part to acculturation (i.e., years since immigration, native language use, traditional native culture attitudes). Greater mutuality, when coupled with dyadic positive affect, was associated with fewer externalizing problems (R2 = .24). This pattern held across gender, ethnic, and sociocconomic groups.     

A Meta-Analysis of the Dependency–Eating-Disorders Relationship: Strength, Specificity, and Temporal Stability

Meta-analysis of studies examining the dependency–eating-disorders relationship revealed that (1) there is a positive association between interpersonal dependency levels and eating disorder symptoms/diagnoses (r = .25); (2) this relationship is comparable in anorexic and bulimic participants; (3) although dependent personality disorder symptoms are elevated in eating-disordered participants, so are the symptoms of several other personality disorders; and (4) when eating disorder symptoms remit, dependency levels decrease. Conclusion: There is a statistically significant link between interpersonal dependency and eating disorders, but this relationship is modest in magnitude, nonspecific, and varies with eating disorder symptom levels. Clinical, empirical, and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.